Space heating system for buildings



\llllllllllllllllllllllllllll Ma y 8,1945. v, UPP 2,375,556

SPACE HEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS Filed Jan. 26, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 53 llllllmllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll INV OR.

' i/erzzaw .J. I 5

May 1945- v. E. HUPP SPACE HEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1942 7 INVENTOR.

Patented May 8, 1 945 i I v v I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

- SPACE HEATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS Vernon E. Hupp, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 26, 1942, Serial No. 428,163

, 1 Claim. (01. 257-136) This invention is directed to a heating system 5-6 on Figure 1 and showing in addition the for buildings, and it is applicable both to resheating arrangement for a room on the next floor idence structures and to commercial buildings, above and directly under the roof.

but it is illustrated herein as embodied in a Figure 6 is a perspective detail view of a porfamiliar type of domestic architecture. 5 tion of a radiating unit for my heating system. One object of the invention is to provide a sim- Figure '7 is a perspective view of a modified plified heat radiating apparatus which shall be form of radiating unit.

easy to install and economical to maintain. While the invention is susceptible of various Another object is to provide a heating system modifications and alternative constructions, the which utilizes standard features of building 10 embodiments shown in the drawings and destructure as elements of the heat distributing scribed hereinafter are by way of preferred ilmeans, and to furnish certain elements of the lustration only, and it is not intended that the heating apparatus in such form that they may invention be limited thereto or thereby, but it is serve also as elements of the building structure. the intention to cover all modifications and al- More specifically, the invention undertakes to ternative constructions falling within the scope employ existing or regularly provided spaces in of the invention as defined by the claim.

the wall structure 01' a building as distributing The drawings show my heating system as apconduits for heated air supplied to. a given space plied to a dwelling or like building of frame conor room through outlets in such walls, and also struction in which the outer wall includes the toprovide radiant heating elements in the form usual sheathing I of ship-lap or the like overlaid of baseboard units associated with the conduit with clapboards 2. These elements are supported spaces in the walls and arranged to include air on the vertical members 3, known as studding,

inlets to secure the circulation of air through with horizontal fire stopsl extending at intervals such spaces. between them. A dead air space is provided be- It is a particular object of the invention to tween the sheathing l and a-layer or panel 5 provide means for heating vthe entire area of I which is preferably of heat insulating material, those portions of the walls of a room which are such as the commercial product known as also exterior walls of the building by producing Celotex. Vertically extending furring strips 5 a continuous directed circulation of'heated air are secured over the panel 5 and support the through spaces within such walls. innermost wall panel 1, which may consist of It is also an object of the invention to provide lath and plaster, or of plasterboard or other walla space heating apparatus which operates by board suitable for interior finish. It may be undirect radiation from a heating unit, indirectly derstood that my heating system is in no way by the transfer of heat to the air of a room and dependent upon the external construction of the circulation of such air, and finally by radiation building wall, and that it might be applied to a from the walls of the room as a result of circubrick building with equal facility, the frame lating the heated air through spaces in such structure just described being chosen merely for walls. purposes of illustration. However, it is a feature Other objects and advantages of the invention or my invention to utilize the spaces 8 formed will appear from the following description taken between the wall panels 5 and the inner panels 1 in connection with the accompanying drawings, and to take advantage of the fact that these inwhich: spaces are subdivided into vertically extending Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a porpassages by the furring strips 6.

tion of a room provided with a heating system A portion of atypical room is shown in Fig 1 embodying this invention, a part of the inner wall with the novel elements of my heating system being broken away. r applied thereto, and the lower portion of Fig. 5

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken through. indicates the details of the arrangement in see-- the wall structure substantially as indicated at tion. The insulating panel 5 extends to the floor line 2-2 on Figure 1. 9 but the inner wallpanel l of plaster or wall- Figure 3 isa fragmentary detail view in per- .50 board terminates above the floor level, leaving spective showing the construction of the air aspace which is usually enclosed by the so-called outlet ducts and grille. baseboard." "At the wall of the room, which is Figure 4 is a vertical detail section taken as an exterior wall of the building, I substitute icr indicated at line H on Figure l. I the baseboard a heat radiating unit or structure Figure 5 is a vertical section taken at line which includes a pipe or conduit lil extending horizontally with heat radiating metallic fins ll spaced along the pipe In at frequent intervals and extending in vertical planes directly below the spaces 8. The upper portions of the front edges and the forward portions of the upper edges of the fins H are enclosed by an angular cover plate l2 leaving the lower portions of the fins exposed to form a grille through which air is admitted from the lower portion of the room for circulation upwardly through the spaces 8. This circulation is induced by the heating of the air as it comes in contact with the pipe i containing heating fluid such as hot water or steam and as it absorbs heat from the pipe and from the fins ll. Near the ceiling i3 thewall 1 is formed with a horizontally extending opening wh may be covered by an ornamental grille, as seen at M, to form an outlet for the heated air rising in the passages or spaces 8. This warmed air then circulates through the room,

- transmitting its heat to the walls and objects in the room and falling as it cools so as to be again drawn into the inlet grille formed by the fins ll and reheated and recirculated.

Where the wall includes a window, such as that shown at H: in Fig. l, the vertical passages besurface of the window and toward the upper portion of the room. In the case of an upper room, such as a bedroom in the second story of a residence building, and located directly under the roof or attic space, it may be found preferable to connect the passages 8 in the vertical wall with similar passages i8 formed between the inner panel l1 which constitutes the ceiling of the room and the panel l9, which is preferably of insulating material, such as Celotex. These passages til then lead to a. suitable outlet, as indicated at 20 in Fig. 5, for discharging the heated air downwardly into the room for eventual recirculation through the baseboard grille of the heating unit.

It may be understood that heating fluid, such as steam or hot water, will be supplied to the pipes) by any suitable connecting piping and from any conventional type of furnace or boiler, and it will be evident that these conduits might be replaced with electrical heating coils or elements arranged in any conventional manner for radiating heat to the spaces 8 in the walls. Fig. 6 shows the pipe form of conduit I0, and Fig. 7 shows amodification in which the conduit I0- is substituted for the pipe l0 and is made of substantially rectangular cross section with the angular cover plate I2 forming the front and top walls of the conduit. A feed pipe Ill is shown connected into one end of such conduit. Inboth constructions, a base or bottom board 2| is provided as a part Of the baseboard unit, being arranged to rest upon the floor 9 and being secured to the lower edges of the fins II or II by any suitable means. As indicated in the drawings, the appearance of the exposed front of the heat" ing unit, consisting of the cover plate l2 and the grille formed by the fins ll, may be duplicated or simulated in baseboard trim members 22, and similarly the appearance of the outlet grille l4 may be simulated by trim mouldings 23 which may actually include slotted metallic grille members identical with those employed at M, or which may be merely strips of moulding painted'or embossed.

to resemble these grilles. But where the baseboard heating units are employed, the regular baseboard is dispensed with.

A special feature of this heating system is that, when it is applied to exterior wallsof the building, these walls are kept warm by the constant flow of heated air through the spaces in them, in-

stead of being colder than the other walls .of the room, as is frequently thecase when the source of heat is an ordinarysteam or hot water radiator or hot air register, confined to a comparatively small space in the room. Furthermore, the supply of warm air at the window sills overcomes the usual chilling effect of cold window panes, so that a more uniform temperature is maintained throughout the room, keeping all portions of it comfortable and healthful for use. It may be understood, however, that wherever necessary the distribution of heat may be effected by the application of this system to the interior partitions or some of them, as well as to the exterior walls of the building.

Thus, it will be seen that this system involves, first, the direct, radiant effect from the heating elements to the room; second, the transmission of heat by convection of the air flowing through or around the heating elements and through the spaces within the walls and ceiling of the room, and discharging into the room through the outlet grilles; and, third, by the warming of the inner wall panels and the radiant effect from the'surfaces of the walls and ceiling to the air within the room. In other words, the system may be considered as a combination of direct, indirect, and radiant heating. With this system, the horizontal extension of the heating unit through at least the length of one side of the room insures the rapid transmission of heat to the air in all the vertical spaces 8 in this wall and the rapid distribution of heat to the room from theoutlet 40 grille H or fromthe ceiling grille 20. By virtue vertical spaces between the furring strips 6 insuresthe induced flow of air as a result of the heat radiated from the baseboard unit. If desired,

these vertical passages may be provided with metal linings, although in most instances this will be unnecessary. As a matter of convenience, Fig. 3 shows metallic outlet boxes 24 adapted to be fiitted between the furring strips 6 and behind the grille l4, these boxes bein formed with a smoothly rounded contour, rendering the back wall and top wall of the air passage substantially continuous and thus facilitating the flow of air to the outlet.

Fig. 6 is illustrative of a portion of a radiator structure comprising a pipeor conduit with associated fins and cover plate. The fins and cover plate may be formed separately from the pipe and the parts then secured together by shrinking, welding orother methods well known in the art. Generally it is preferable to form the radiator structure with the fins and cover plate cast in, tegrally with the pipe. In either form the radiators may be made up in standard lengths with end fittings or nipples for pipe connections as shown in the form of Fig. 7.

I claim asmy invention:

In a building, in combination with a room havwall and said ceiling including an external wall panel, an intermediate wall panel spaced inwardly from said external panel to provide insulating space preventing direct exposure of the outer surface of said intermediate panel to atmosphere, and an inner wall panel exposed toward the room and spaced inwardly from said intermediate panel, a plurality of horizontally spaced and vertically extending' strips between the inner and the intermediate panels of said outer wall cooperating therewith to form vertically extending, shallow, hot air ducts lying behind the inner panel of said outer wall over substantially the entire area thereof, a plurality of laterally spaced, horizontally extending strips between the inner and the intermediate panels of said ceiling cooperating therewith to form horizontally extending, shallow, hot air ducts lying behind the inner panel ofsaid ceiling over substantially the entire area thereof, the ducts so formed in the ceiling being continuations of and in communication with the ducts in said outer wall, the intermediate panel of said outer wall extending from the floor to the intermediate panel of said ceiling, and the inner panel extending from the inner panel of said ceiling to a distance above the floor providing a baseboard opening along the entire lower edge 01' the inner panel of said outer wall leading to the ducts formed in said outer wall, a radiant heating element extending horizontally adjacent the floor level below said ducts in the outer wall and with its. front surface exposed through said opening so as to permit radiant heat to pass from said element directly into the room, said opening permitting air from the room to pass there- ,through and across said heating element to be heated thereby and pass up into the ducts in said outer wall and said ceiling to warm the inner wall panels thereof which in turn radiate heat to the room, and an elongated outlet formed in 

